Professional and Ethical
Responsibility for
Engineers
Engineering, Ethics, and Society
• Professional responsibilities as engineers
• What does professional responsibility mean?
• Why do engineers have professional
responsibilities?
• How engineers can act on their professional
responsibilities?
• Professional societies provide some guidance.
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Engineers' Creed
Adopted by National Society of Professional Engineers, June 1954
As a Professional Engineer, I dedicate my professional knowledge
and skill to the advancement and betterment of human welfare.
I pledge:
• To give the utmost of performance;
• To participate in none but honest enterprise;
• To live and work according to the laws of man and the highest
standards of professional conduct;
• To place service before profit, the honor and standing of the
profession before personal advantage, and the public welfare
above all other considerations.
In humility and with need for Divine Guidance, I make this pledge.
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IEEE Code of Ethics
Approved by IEEE Board of Directors August 1990
We, the members of the IEEE, in recognition of the importance of our technologies in affecting
the quality of life throughout the world, and in accepting a personal obligation to our profession,
its members and the communities we serve, do hereby commit ourselves to the highest ethical and
professional conduct and agree:
1. to accept responsibility in making engineering decisions consistent with the safety, health and
welfare of the public, and to disclose promptly factors that might endanger the public or the
environment;
2. to avoid real or perceived conflicts of interest whenever possible, and to disclose them to affected
parties when they do exist;
3. to be honest and realistic in stating claims or estimates based on available data;
4. to reject bribery in all its forms;
5. to improve the understanding of technology, its appropriate application, and potential consequences;
6. to maintain and improve our technical competence and to undertake technological tasks for others
only if qualified by training or experience, or after full disclosure of pertinent limitations;
7. to seek, accept, and offer honest criticism of technical work, to acknowledge and correct errors, and
to credit properly the contributions of others;
8. to treat fairly all persons regardless of such factors as race, religion, gender, disability, age, or
national origin;
9. to avoid injuring others, their property, reputation, or employment by false or malicious action;
10. to assist colleagues and co-workers in their professional development and to support them in
following this code of ethics.
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Environmental and Social Dimensions
of Engineering (1 & 5)
• What responsibilities do engineers have regarding
environmental and social considerations (e.g.,
safety, health and welfare of the public)?
• Some topics to consider are moral development,
risks both present & future, and sustainability.
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Conflicts of Interest (2)
• Different types of conflicts of interest- financial gain,
work commitments, and intellectual & personal matters
• Financial- Example: Substantial investment in an
outside company that would benefit from work. There
are U.S., State, & local laws, regulations and policies
relating to financial conflicts of interest.
• Conflict of commitment- Example: Working for more
than one customer/employer.
• Intellectual & personal matters- Example: Personal
belief(s) predispose/bias research.
• What strategies may mitigate or eliminate the impact of
conflicts of interest?
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Engineering Misconduct (3,4,9)
• Main types- fabrication, falsification, bribery, and
plagiarism/intellectual theft
• Make estimates & performance claims that are
honest/realistic. E.g., do not deliberately underbid a
project and then change price(s) later. E.g., vacuum
cleaner hp claims.
• Fabrication/falsification. E.g., When conducting
tests, inspections, etc, do the work; no pencil
whipping or inappropriate shortcuts.
• Bribery- ‘gifts’ to decision makers, inspectors, …
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Engineering Misconduct cont.
• Plagiarism/intellectual theft are major violations of
professional integrity standards/engineering misconduct.
• What constitutes plagiarism? Google- the practice of
taking someone else's work or ideas and passing them off
as one's own. Always best to give proper credit.
• Intellectual theft- E.g., reverse engineering products or
code, violating patents, etc.
• Conversely- ethical responsibility to protect data & trade
secrets of customers (e.g., hacking, NDAs)
• What steps can be taken to handle allegations of
engineering misconduct?
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Technical Competence
& Integrity (5, 6, 7)
• Stay up to date in your field. E.g., continuing
education, advanced professional training, etc.
• Undertake work that you are qualified to do. E.g.,
Do not bid on jobs that you do not have capability
to handle.
• Have co-workers/peers review your work. In
turn, review and provide feedback to coworkers/peers.
• Very important job- can have huge impact on
careers, company, and profession
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Golden Rule (9, 10)
• Treat people ethically and fairly.
• Don’t hurt/impugn the livelihoods or
reputations of people or companies, destroy or
damage property to gain unethical advantages.
• Aid co-workers/peers in meeting professional
and ethical responsibilities.
• Improve the lives of people through your
work.
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References/Resources
• National Society of Professional Engineers (NSPE) http://www.nspe.org/
• Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)
http://www.ieee.org
• Office of Research Integrity (ORI) Introduction to the Responsible Conduct
of Research https://ori.hhs.gov/ori-introduction-responsible-conductresearch (provides a good overview)
• Responsible conduct of research (RCR) by American Psychological
Association http://www.apa.org/research/responsible/ (many good links)
• General RCR Resources- https://ori.hhs.gov/general-resources-0 (many
good links)
• Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative (CITI), University of Miami,
Responsible Conduct of Research Program
https://www.citiprogram.org/index.cfm?pageID=265
• Ethics Case Studies by Northeastern University
http://www.webguru.neu.edu/professionalism/research-integrity/ethicscase-studies
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